On April 18th, 1775, Paul Revere rallied five hundred of his countrymen to face the might of the British army at Lexington and Concord. These patriots were afraid. The British army was strong. But each and every one of those five hundred patriots made the decision to stand up and fight for what he believed in.

Two hundred and thirty-six years later, that backbone is nowhere to be seen. Our representatives have allowed Congress to attack low-cost, high-impact programs for political reasons rather than addressing the real problems we're facing. We're calling on Senator Kerry to take a stand for American communities, instead of allowing Congress to continue enacting devastating budget cuts while wealthy Americans and corporations are let off the hook.

On April 18th, 2011, we celebrated Patriots' Day by taking up Paul Revere's message. Thirty marches walked along his path, going from the Lexington Battle Green to Boston. Along the way, we rallied sleeping patriots and shared our message with them: when the burden of taxation is disproportionately heavy on middle-class and working families and light on the rich and corporations, America cannot afford to slash the budget for community programs, education, energy efficiency, and public service.